, 1887-04-13
WILDCAT HUNTING.
Ono of the Fnvorite Sports of tic Dwell.
ers in Lower California.

t'' ~ loNt
There she isl
Don't fire.
''Give the dogs a chance!'
They and many other disconnected
sentences came from a crowd of ladies'
and gentlemen who, well mounted and
close upon a pack of eager hounds, We're
pushing into n thick patch of under
brush in the center of the Arroyo Seco, a
dry canon OF river just back of Passa-
dena. Cal.
Here the gulch was well filled with tall
trees from whose branches there fell in
rich festoons masses of wild grape and
clematis that formed ropes that deity
caught riders beneath the chin, and so
tied mp the dogs hat they often became
fouled and yelped and howled in impo-
tent rage. The party had started half a
mile below in the clearing and had fol-
lowed up the eager dogs that had low.
freed game Of some kind, and, as they
gathered about the broken poplar high
up in one of the branches, there appeared
a long, litho body clinging to the limb,
while over the side peered the ugly face
of the wildcat. Excitement had been at
fever pitch when the hounds struck the
trail, but now that the animal was in
full view, it fairly boiled over. even the
horses appearing to be carried away
by it.
Stand back, lad:es!" shouted the
master of the hounds, who carried a
light rifle, sometimes a cat will jump
FOR her lie, and they will scratch when
they land"
The ladies fell back q little, and a
%youngster in the party volunteered to
climb the tree and dislodge the common
enemy. Handing the bride of his horse
to n rider, he seized tho pendent grape
vino and swung up into the tree, and u
few moments later was making his way
along the branch toward the crouching
cat. She was so ~intently engaged i'll
looking at the dogs that at first she did
not see him, but when he rounded the
new enemy, drew back with n quick
growl, glanced this way and that, as if
measuring the chances, and, perhaps,
would have jumped, when the climber
deity strsck her from behind and down
she went, with q scream of rage into the
red mouths below. The blood and fur
flew, for puss was game, and not q few
good dogs backed out, wiping their heads
and ragged ears. But the game was up,
and it was with great difficulty that the
skin was saved for the rug which is the
trophy of the wildcat hunt.
Hunting this short tailed feline is a
feature of southern California out door
sports. The deep canons that radiate
down from the Sierra Madres form their
retreat and that of large game in general.
After q rain the hunts are organized, and
then the paw marks are distinctly seen
and the scent fresh, and, as the storm
clouds blow away from the mountain
sides and the warm SUI comes out the
bay of the hounds of some sportsman il
nearly always heard. The wildcat OF
tits country is q large, powerful animal,
approaching the lynx, also found here, in
size and general appearance, and largo
enough to infict dangerous wounds upon
man or beast.
On one occasion the hounds came upon
a fresh scent in an extremely narrow
place in h canon, where p%rccipitous
rocks rose on n side and heavy brush
on the other. The dogs rushed into the
latter, and q moment later n large cat
bounded into the narrow stream and
began an Intellectual scramble up the
rocky sides. A bullet caught her before
she had gone thirty feet, and, turning
with a snarl of rage, she leaped directly
into the air, fell upon the neck of a
broncho, dismounted the rider in the
melee, and before she could be dislodged
tore and lacerated the animal in a fear
full manner. Kittens are often seen in
play to take one another in their mouths
and to scratch with their hind feet. and
it was this plan that was adopted by the
cat. She fastened her claws into the
broncho's neck, and with her sharp hind
claws ripped and clawed until the animal
was n mass of blood and lacerated flesh,
then fell among the dogs, to be torn to
pieces amid a protest that showed it to be
among the gamest animals.
"You may talk about your mountain
lion," said an old hunter as we rode
slowly up the Arroyo one early morning
after the rain, with the whimpering dogs
all about, 'but l would rather take my
chances with n any time than with a
pair of wildcats at close quarters. 1t just
SEEM as if a cat loses its head like. They
know they're caught, and they are just
bound to have it out if it takes all sum-
mer. They fight worse when there is n
pair, just like a mountain lion. "-Phila-
delphia Times.